Multiple Page vs. Standard Pages vs. Asset listing

(kerri.jenkins@tnq.org.au) #1

Hi


I am about to try and re-build my org's about us pages (http://www.tropicalaustralia.com.au/corporate/about_us/tourism_marketing) and am not sure what is the smartest way to go about it.



They are just standard pages at the moment and trying to delete/re-order people is a HTML/layout nightmare so I am going to rebuild them from scratch.



I was thinking about using the multiple page asset, but am not sure if this is the best/right asset to use. And if I do use the multiple page page, should I be listing each person in their own, separate div on the page or should I create a table and keep them all in the one div…or something else completely???



Your thoughts/advice would be much appreciated!



Thank you :slight_smile:

(Nic Hubbard) #2

I would create each user as a user asset. Then, list those with an asset listing as you have the most freedom to list them how you want. If you need separate pages for each user, just make the asset listing display 1 asset per page. Then, you can combine that with another asset listing that lists all the users, with a link to the second asset listing at the same asset position. :slight_smile:

(kerri.jenkins@tnq.org.au) #3

Thanks for your speedy reply nnhubbard, but my site isn't goverened by users and these people don't have user assets/accounts assigned to them (strange, yes - loooooong story). It is simply a list of all our staff and their photos. Any other suggestions?
(Rachel Macdonald) #4

When I first started using Matrix I built some areas as multiple pages and I am regretting it now and having to rebuild sections. The URLs aren't as good and they just aren't as flexible. In my case I was trying to act like they were normal pages to the user but it means they aren't consistent with the rest of the site's navigation.


At my training it was explained to me that they were designed to act as chapters of a really long report rather than separate pages. This makes sense to me, I think they'd be fine for that, but I wouldn't make 'normal info pages' with them anymore.



Your mileage may vary but I would be careful with them.

(Nic Hubbard) #5

My suggestion for user assets was not so that they can login or anything like that. It was so that you can have First Name and Last name, then sort by those fields which to me, is very valuable when listing people. The user asset in this situation would not be used for logins.
(Shane Weddell) #6

Hi Kerri


I will add a note of caution on the multiple page too. I think Nic is on the right track with asset listing though and you can do it without using user assets.



I suspect the content is also too long winded for this page. If it were me doing this I would go for an individual standard page for each member that has the nice pic and all the propoganda. Then I would make a thumbnail of each user and and apply it to the thumbnail of their page. I would make a really simple metadata schema that could carry the info that is really important up front. Like their name, title and contact details and the "contact me for:" bit. Then use the asset list to list the pages using thumbnail and metadata fields. Link each entry to the full bio/brag page.



Through the asset list you have lots of ordering options and options to show all content of each asset if you wish. You can recreate the page as it is and just get the benefit of re-ordering or you could create a nicer list.



Hope this makes sense.

(kerri.jenkins@tnq.org.au) #7

[quote]Hi Kerri


I will add a note of caution on the multiple page too. I think Nic is on the right track with asset listing though and you can do it without using user assets.



I suspect the content is also too long winded for this page. If it were me doing this I would go for an individual standard page for each member that has the nice pic and all the propoganda. Then I would make a thumbnail of each user and and apply it to the thumbnail of their page. I would make a really simple metadata schema that could carry the info that is really important up front. Like their name, title and contact details and the "contact me for:" bit. Then use the asset list to list the pages using thumbnail and metadata fields. Link each entry to the full bio/brag page.



Through the asset list you have lots of ordering options and options to show all content of each asset if you wish. You can recreate the page as it is and just get the benefit of re-ordering or you could create a nicer list.



Hope this makes sense.[/quote]



Thanks for your help everyone :slight_smile: It's nice to know I'm not all alone up here! I'm going to steer clear of the multiple page page and have a crack at the standard page asset listing…stay tuned



Thanks again :slight_smile:

(H Cook) #8

[quote]
Hi Kerri



I will add a note of caution on the multiple page too. I think Nic is on the right track with asset listing though and you can do it without using user assets.



I suspect the content is also too long winded for this page. If it were me doing this I would go for an individual standard page for each member that has the nice pic and all the propoganda. Then I would make a thumbnail of each user and and apply it to the thumbnail of their page. I would make a really simple metadata schema that could carry the info that is really important up front. Like their name, title and contact details and the "contact me for:" bit. Then use the asset list to list the pages using thumbnail and metadata fields. Link each entry to the full bio/brag page.



Through the asset list you have lots of ordering options and options to show all content of each asset if you wish. You can recreate the page as it is and just get the benefit of re-ordering or you could create a nicer list.



Hope this makes sense.

[/quote]



Hi Shane,



This is really helpful, as I am about to do the same thing as Kerri. I'm having one problem though. I want to use the metadata field to pull through email addresses for each person represented on the asset listing page. But the email address is not hyperlinked. Do I need to put the email address on the page in a different way?

Hannah

(Nic Hubbard) #9

[quote]
This is really helpful, as I am about to do the same thing as Kerri. I'm having one problem though. I want to use the metadata field to pull through email addresses for each person represented on the asset listing page. But the email address is not hyperlinked. Do I need to put the email address on the page in a different way?

[/quote]



Are you meaning that you have an email address in Metadata and you want to print it as a link?



You would do:


    %asset_metadata_%
(H Cook) #10

[quote]
Are you meaning that you have an email address in Metadata and you want to print it as a link?



You would do:


    %asset_metadata_%

[/quote]



that's it! Fantastic, thanks so much.